Editorial | Employee health care? Better not call Papa!

Last we heard, Papa John Schnatter was telling investors that he was going to have to raise the price of his pizzas by 11 to 14 cents to help pay for health insurance for his pizza chefs and his delivery drivers.

"Fine," we said. Pocket change to pay for health insurance for thousands of low-paid workers seemed like a bargain to us.

Now, though, he's apparently decided that customers won't want to pay that much for his pepperoni and sausage pie.

That's why he told students at Edison State College, near his vacation home in Naples, Fla., that he'll probably just cut the hours of his already low-paid employees and so will his franchisees.

The Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, requires businesses that employ 50 or more full-time workers to provide health insurance for their full-time employees or pay government fines.

Mr. Schnatter's answer is to simply cut workers hours below 30 hours per week in an effort to get around the law. It's a strategy that punishes those who can least afford it.

When his pizza chefs twist elbows flipping dough or his drivers drivers catch colds walking to your door pizza in freezing rain and end up in an emergency room, you'll not only be paying for your pizza, you'll still be paying for their medical bills.

See, when people can't afford their doctor and hospital bills, we all pay for that through higher medical bills that we and our insurance companies must bear and through our taxes, which go to treat the poor.

But Papa John's doesn't have to cut back employees hours. Mr. Schnatter, who presumably gets health insurance along with his $2.7 million benefits package, has said that the cost of health insurance for now uninsured employees would be $5 million to $8 million per year.

This is the same Mr. Schnatter who has spent umpteen dollars on television ads promising to give away two million free pizzas this football season to promote the business. At $10 a pop, that's $20 million.

Why not charge people for their pizza and promote Papa John's as being a good corporate citizen that pays is workers fairly - and doesn't force the rest of us to pick up their medical bills?

Louisville, Kentucky • Southern Indiana

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Editorial | Employee health care? Better not call Papa!

Last we heard, Papa John Schnatter was telling investors that he was going to have to raise the price of his pizzas by 11 to 14 cents to help pay for health insurance for his pizza chefs and his